Synopsis:

Rayna brushes off rumors about her and Luke's breakup as she prepares to return to the stage; Scarlett plans a surprise for Deacon; Gunnar travels to Austin intent on mending fences with his estranged nephew.

(From ABC)
Rumors start to fly surrounding Rayna and Luke’s breakup but Rayna’s determined not to let them bring her down and finds a way to return to the public eye on her own terms. Juliette’s pregnancy is starting to make her stir crazy and she’s eager to get her career back on track, but at what cost? Then, Scarlett plans a surprise for Deacon, but it doesn't pan out as she had hoped. Later, Gunnar travels to Austin to mend fences with his estranged nephew and Teddy stops by Maddie and Daphne’s recording session at school where he unexpectedly runs into Jeff.

(Recap From ABC)
It’s been three weeks since Rayna (Connie Britton) broke off her wedding to Luke (Will Chase), and Bucky (David Alford) is pressuring her to make a public appearance to quash raging rumors, such as the one that claims she’s too emotionally distraught to leave the house or the one that asserts she’s holed up in rehab.

She takes his advice and decides to play an unannounced performance at the Bluebird but when she spots a picture of her and Deacon (Charles Esten) on the café’s wall, she’s overcome with emotion and skips out on the show. It’s not until she opens up to Maddie (Lennon Stella) about what a “trying” time the past few weeks have been and the two write a song together, that she’s able to take the stage at the Bluebird. She even invites Maddie and Daphne (Maisy Stella) to perform a song with her.

But Rayna, who tells Maddie that she’s proud of her development as a musician, isn’t the only person who’s been tracking the teen’s talents. Desperate to impress the chairman of the board—and keep his job in the process—Jeff Fordham (Oliver Hudson) needs to sign a “hot young female artist” and he’s got his eyes set on Maddie. Knowing that Rayna will never sign Maddie to Edgehill, Jeff targets Teddy (Eric Close). When he refuses to sign, Jeff blackmails the mayor, telling him he’ll expose the fact that he’s spent his salary on prostitutes unless he signs the contract.

Meanwhile, Gunnar (Sam Palladio) is eager to connect with Micah (Gunnar Sizemore), who has moved to Texas with his grandparents and refuses to have any contact with his uncle. When Micah’s grandmother reveals the boy has been acting up—staying up late and getting into fights—Gunnar hops on a plane to see him. Once there, he discovers that Micah is misbehaving because he believes he’s destined to be a bad person like his biological father. But Gunnar convinces the boy of Jason’s good side by sharing old stories and attributing his musical success to his older brother.

Deacon and Scarlett (Clare Bowen) also have a visitor from out of town when Scarlett secretly invites her mother Beverly (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) to stay with them in the hopes that she’ll be donor match for her uncle. An initially outraged Beverly decides to take the test to see if she’s a match after Scarlett calms her down, but it turns out she’s not a suitable donor—or so she says. After making a call to Deacon’s doctor, Scarlett discovers Beverly is lying and blows up at her, calling her a terrible person. Deacon, on the other hand, is more understanding about his sister’s decision.